Collar support



Oct. 22, 1963 M. A. TEAGUE 3,107,830

' COLLAR SUPPORT Filed April 4. 1960 INVENTOR. M/mw/v 6'. 75/4605 UnitedStates Patent Qfiice 3,107,830 COLLAR SUPPORT Marvin A. Teague, 1401Greenfield Road, Evansville 15, Ind. Filed Apr. 4, 1960, Ser. No. 19,6433 Claims. (Cl. 223-83) The present invention relates to a collarsupport, and more particularly to a new and novel collar support whichis readily and elfectively positioned in the collar of a laundryfinished shirt.

As is known, the finishing of shirts with a lay down type of collar bylaundries or other professional shirt finishers has been rapidlyincreasing because of wide customer acceptance thereof based, amongother reasons, on finished appearance and the convenience afforded instorage, as well as in traveling. In this regard, it has becomedesirable to the shirt finishers to find a collar support which isreadily positionable in the top button area of a finished shirt, andwhich at the same time provides strength thereto, thereby preventingcrushing of the finished collar upon packaging, delivering or, in fact,anytime in the period prior to wearing by the customer.

By virtue of the instant invention, the applicant has provided a new andnovel collar support for a laundry or other professionally finishedshirt which is made from a simple piece of paperboard or like material,and which by folding, through slits and scores defined therein, isreadily positionable on the shirt to provide an important utilitarianadvantage, as well as a desirable decorative effect. More specifically,the applicants novel collar support includes a foldable section, theneck of which is disposed over the collar button portion of the finishedshirt, where the foldable section includes a novel second fold to lockthe support in position. The novel folding is readily effected and, mostimportantly, adds desired strength to an area of the shirt which hasbeen generally neglected by prior collar supports.

Accordingly, a principal object of the present invention is to provide anew and novel collar support for a laundry or other professionallyfinished shirt.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a new and novelcollar support for a laundry finished shirt which is readily positionedfor use, and which is effectively retained in said position of use.

A further object of the present invention is to provide a new and novelcollar support for a laundry finished shirt which is formed from anintegral piece of material, so scored and slitted as to provide anoptimum utilization of material in the manufacture thereof.

A further and more general object of the present invention is to providea new and novel collar support for a laundry finished shirt which isreadily and effectively locked into position on the shirt to affordstrength thereto for effective packaging, delivery and storage.

Other objects and a better understanding of the invention will becomemore apparent from the following detailed description, taken inconjunction with the accompanying drawing, wherein FIG. 1 is a plan viewof the instant invention typically positioned for use on a shirt, andmore particularly simulating a bow-tie;

FIG. 2 is a plan view of the collar support shown in use in FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is an enlarged view in vertical section of the collar support ofFIG. 2, with a portion thereof being taken at line 33 of FIG. 1 andlooking in the direction of the arrows, to show details of the novellocking arrangement thereof;

FIG. 4 is a plan view of another collar support in accordance with theinstant invention, and more particularly simulating a southern coloneltype tie; and,

mamas Patented Oct. 22, 1963 FIG. 5 is a plan view, partly fragmentary,of still another collar support embodying the teachings of the instantinvention.

For the purposes of promoting an understanding of the principles of theinvention, reference will now be made to the embodiments illustrated inthe drawing and specific language will be used to describe the same. Itwill nevertheless be understood that no limitation of the scope of theinvention is thereby intended, such alterations and furthermodifications in the illustrated device, and such further applicationsof the principles of the invention as illustrated therein beingcontemplated as would normally occur to one skilled in the art to whichthe invention relates.

Refering to FIGS. 1, 2 and 3, the applicants novel collar support 10has, in a typical form of the invention, a generally rectangular shape,where slits 14 extend inwardly from the outer edge thereof to define alower portion 15 which has, in use, the outward appearance of a bow-tie.As should be apparent from FIG. 1, the slits 14 are adapted to receivethe inner edges of the collar of the finished shirt; Typically, thecollar support ltl is made from paperboard or like material, and in theinstance of the bow-tie form of the invention, the lower portion 15thereof may, of course, include any desired ornamentation.

The collar support 10 has an intermediate portion 18 disposed above theslits 14 and extending between slits 19 which define an upper foldableportion 20. The slits 19 each extend downwardly and inwardly from theupper corners of the collar support 10, and a score 21 extends betweenthe inner ends thereof. Another score 22 extends between the slits 19 ona line generally equidistant from the top edge of the foldable portion20 and the score 21 thereby defining parts Zila and 20b of the foldableportion 20.

In use, and after aforedescribed slitting and scoring has beenaccomplished, the foldable portion 20 of the collar support 10 is movedupwardly, leaving free edges defined by the slits 19 which arepositioned in the fold beneath the collar of the laundry finished shirt(see FIG. 1). The foldable portion 20 is then folded at the score 22thereof so that, looking from the bottom of the collar support in FIG.2, the part 20a thereof, in the front, is disposed in folding engagementwith the part 20b thereof, in the rear. The folded together parts 20aand 20b are then folded into the rim of the neck of the collar 50 thatthe part 20]) is in engagement therewith. Inasmuch as the contour of therim of the collar is generally oval or circular, a force is urged onthepart 20b, to thereby maintain the foldable portion 20 in securingrelationship. The operation is then completed by making sure that thelower portion 15, which simulates a bowtie, has the inner edgesextending through the slits 1'4.

With reference to FIG. 4 and FIG. 5, where like reference numeralsidentify the same elements of FIGS. 1 to 3, inclusive, other typicalembodiments of the invention are disclosed therein which employ the samenovel collar engaging arrangement discussed hereabove in connection withthe collar support of FIGS. 1, 2 and 3. However, a distinguishingfeature of these alternate embodiments is that the collar support 30 ofFIG. 4 simulates a southern colonel type of tie, i.e. by the downwardextension of lower portion 1 5, instead of the bow-tie effect providedby the collar support 10 of FIGS. 1, 2 and 3, while FIG. 5 illustrates acollar support 40 which simulates a common four-in-hand tie. Aninspection of FIG. 5 will reveal that the lower slits necessary toeffect the novel bow-tie or southern colonel tie of the preceding ofFIGS. 1 to 4, inclusive, is not necessary in this instance, thus theslits 19 define a bottom portion 41.

From the preceding it should be apparent that the applicant has inventeda new and novel collar support for a laundry or other professionally:finished shirt which is simple to manufacture, representing a maximumin economy in material, and, at the same time, and most import-antly,through a novel relation of components, provides positive locking, aswell as excellent strength characteristics, during use.

Although the preceding description is specific to the embodiments of theinvention of the drawing, it should be understood that changes may bemade therein Within the spirit of the invention. For example, the slits14 may assume a modified configuration to provide a different finishedornamental elfect. Thus, the above description should be consideredillustrative and not as limiting the scope of the following claims.

I claim:

11. A collar support for a laundry finished shirt comprising a bodyportion having a generally rectangular upper end, said upper end havingslits extending inwardly and downwardly from adjacent the cornersthereof to define a fol-dable portion having a relatively narrow firstfold axis extending between the ends of said slits, a second fold axisdisposed on said foldable portion and extending between said slitssubstantially midway between said first fold axis and the upper edge ofsaid foldable portion, said second fold axis defining a first sectionand a second section of said foldable portion, said foldable portionadapted to be folded at said second fold axis so that said secondsection is disposed behind said first section and in engagementtherewith, and said foldable portion adapted to be folded at said firstfold axis so that said second section is also in engagement with theinner rim of the neck band portion of said shirt, the corner portions ofsaid second section of said foldable portion extending beyond the edgesof said first section and engaging said inner rim of said neck bandportion.

2. The collar support of claim 1 where said body portion has slitsextending from the side edges thereof generally parallel to the upperedge of said generally rectangular upper end to engage the collar ofsaid shirt.

3. The collar support of claim 1 where said body portion has anelongated lower end which defines a tie form.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS2,053,564 Knopp Sept. 8, 1936 2,401,789 McFall et a1. June 11, 19462,518,300 Fine Aug. 8, 1950 2,630,949 Steele Mar. 10, 1953 2,673,667Richman Mar. 30, 1954 2,742,207 Teague Apr. 17, 1956 OTHER REFERENCES727,580 Great Britain Apr. 6, 1955

1. A COLLAR SUPPORT FOR LAUNDRY FINISHED SHIRT COMPRISING A BODY PORTIONHAVING A GENERALLY RECTANGULAR UPPER END, SAID UPPER END HAVING SLITSEXTENDING INWARDLY AND DOWNWARDLY FROM ADJACENT THE CORNERS THEREOF TODEFINE A FOLDABLE PORTION HAVING A RELATIVELY NARROW FIRST FOLD AXISEXTENDING BETWEEN THE ENDS OF SAID SLITS, A SECOND FOLD AXIS DISPOSED ONSAID FOLDABLE PORTION AND EXTENDING BETWEEN SAID SLITS SUBSTANTIALLYMIDWAY BETWEEN SAID FIRST FOLD AXIS AND THE UPPER EDGE OF SAID FOLDABLEPORTION, SAID SECOND FOLD AXIS DEFINING A FIRST SECTION AND A SECONDSECTION OF SAID FOLDABLE PORTION, SAID FOLDABLE PORTION ADAPTED TO BEFOLDED AT SAID SECOND FOLD AXIS SO THAT SAID SECOND SECTION IS DISPOSEDBEHIND SAID FIRST SECTION AND IN ENGAGEMENT THEREWITH, AND SAID FOLDABLEPORTION ADAPTED TO BE FOLDED AT FIRST FOLD AXIS SO THAT SAID SECONDSECTION IS ALSO IN ENGAGEMENT WITH THE INNER RIM OF THE NECK BANDPORTION OF SAID SHIRT, THE CORNER PORTIONS OF SAID SECOND SECTION OFSAID FOLDABLE PORTION EXTENDING BEYOND THE EDGES OF SAID FIRST SECTIONAND ENGAGING SAID INNER RIM OF SAID NECK BAND PORTION.